'Reluctant' Manmohan Singh has shown his true colours, alleges BJP

New Delhi, Mar. 29 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, saying the 'reluctant' politician has shown his true political colours and that he was audaciously ambitious by not replying in a downbeat note on whether he would lead the nation for a third consecutive term.

"Dr. Manmohan Singh is a very reluctant politician. But what is surprising is few days after Holi, the reluctant politician has shown his true political colours and that too being audaciously ambitious," said BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Prasad said the rank non-performance of Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of a big country like India is a matter of serious public concern.

"There is no probability that the people of this country would like to see him as the Prime Minister for another five-year term. Many of these scams (that have taken place in the last nine years) rightly and quite conclusively lead to the doorstep of the Prime Minister himself. The nation is now fed up of the rampant inflation, corruption and policy paralysis," said Prasad.

"India's growth story is over. Even trade bodies, industrial bodies are now openly questioning the way in which India is being governed by Dr. Manmohan Singh Government," he added.

Prasad further said India deserves better and does not deserve the lack-lustre non-performing UPA Government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh.

"Indians are fed up, they are only waiting for the right opportunity to make it happen," he added.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that the UPA government at the Centre will complete its full term and the Lok Sabha elections will take place only in 2014 as scheduled.

"Obviously coalitions face issues. Sometimes, they give the impression that these arrangements are not very stable and I cannot deny that those possibilities exist. But I am confident our government will complete five years and that the next Lok Sabha elections will take place on schedule," Dr Singh said on board Air India One while returning from the BRICS summit in Durban.

Replying to a question whether the government has the wherewithal to sustain reforms, Dr. Singh said: "It is not a once for all set-up we are seeking by way of reforms. Reforms certainly have to take into account the fact that we don't have the majority to get the parliament to approve some of our reform proposals."

"So we are certainly dependent on the goodwill of our allies and I would be the last one to deny that there are uncertainties. But even then, we are confident that the reforms that matter, and which are going to yield results in the next few months, we will be able to push them," he added.

When asked whether he would accept a third term in office if Congress party is voted back to power after the 2014 general elections, Dr. Singh said: "These are hypothetical questions. We will cross that bridge, when we reach there."

Prasad, who is the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, also took potshots at Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for his renewed push for a Third Front.

"Third Front is history in the politics of India. It has no relevance for the present nor any promise for the future," he added, while asserting that the Third Front Governments in India have always been dependent on the Congress Party.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has evinced interest in forming a third front of political parties committed to social change in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

"A coalition government is the need of the country, as no single party can come to power at Centre on its own strength," he has said.

The Congress-led UPA Government has been in a minority since September last year when Mamata Banerjee pulled out her Trinamool Congress over the Centre's economic reforms, including opening the retail sector to foreign super-chains like Wal-Mart.

The DMK also earlier this month withdrew its support to the UPA over the issue of alleged human rights violations of Sri Lankan Tamils, and ruled out any reconsideration.

With the pullout of the 18 DMK MPs in the Lok Sabha, the strength of the UPA Government declines from 295 to 277 in the Rajya Sabha. (ANI)